Recommended Posts

Wurm Unlimited is a game based on the MMO Wurm Online, which is a multiplayer fantasy sandbox world. Compared to the MMO where you only get access to the client, you also get a full standalone multiplayer server in Wurm Unlimited. You can change settings on the server to change things as skill gain speed, action timers, and even become a game master with more powerful abilities ingame.

How will this affect the MMO Wurm Online when it comes to the number of players?

We expect that initially there will be a drop in online presence and subscriptions as the current players try WU. We then believe that the online population will start growing again thanks to various factors such as interests and preferences. While a private server may be deleted at any time, our servers should be here for decades more.

Will you shut down any existing servers?

We won't be shutting down servers unless they are virtually dead for a long time. We will also look into ways to encourage people playing Wurm Unlimited to try out the Wurm Online hosted servers. We don't even see us shutting down deserted servers to be honest. They will still have value for the occasional explorer. We have to keep the possibility open though so we can't say that it will never happen.

How will this affect the development of the MMO?

WU and WO share the same code, but the main branch is WO which means we will develop the WO server code first and then release on WU, except when there are features that are more appropriate to try on WU first. Such changes may be added to WO when we feel that they are tested properly. When it comes to the client, the code is also very much shared and improvements of for instance settings or rendering will be available for both within a fairly short time frame.

FUNCTION

Can Wurm Unlimited players join Wurm Online servers and vice versa? (Kinda like going through the Epic portal) Or are they completely separate?

Completely separate. Allowing modified characters to the live servers would be crazy:)

Can people opt-in to test features and ideas before they are rolled to Live?

We are 5 employees and have no resources to manage testing a lot depending on what you are suggesting. We already have test servers for Wurm Online wich anyone can join using the client found at http://www.wurmonlin...lient_test.jnlp.

How will private server hosting work? Will you need to rent a private server from CodeClub / some other authorised provider, or will people be able to run the software on their own hardware? What will be the (likely, approximate) costs involved?

You can run the server on your PC or host your own. We don't have the resources to provide that service but there are lots of dedicated server hosting companies. We're still looking at how you will publish it to the Steam server list but you can set a password and it needs to be accessible from the internet in case you want other players to be able to connect. I can not go into discussion on what the costs will be since it may vary a lot.

Will there be mac/linux versions?

We have no resources for releasing Linux/OSX versions on Steam right now but we want to. It depends on the interest for the Windows version.

But It still uses Java, and Java works for linux, no idea about OS x

The Steam client uses native libraries so we can only support Windows initially.

How will the initial map be created? Will we be able to design it from scratch or set preferences for it?

At release we will provide two maps since we don't have our own terrain generator for Wurm and it requires extra tools. What we do is use a commercial terrain generator and modify the generated files by tweaking things in java source code. We have no gui for tweaking those parameters and don't have the resources to support such a method or questions about it at release. You may however play around with it yourself and use any maps you manage to generate by replacing them in the game directory.

Will you be providing an API for localization and customization?

Afraid not, since most language stuff is hard coded. If we can hire more people we might be able to put someone on externalizing strings and support more languages but realtime generated strings involving plural, possessive 's and pronouns also need code changes so it's a real hassle.

Is it possible that popular mods might be included in the online version down the track?

If people improve stuff in the Steam release and it makes sense to adopt we'll be happy to if both parties are and we have resources.

Will WU be updated like the official server?

Yes, the game will be updates with fixes from the Wurm Online code which will remain the main development track.

Will Wurm Unlimited require multiple purchases to play more than one character at a time?

Steam only allows one client of any game (not only Wurm Unlimited) running at one time so you can only run one character per Steam installation and account.

Secondly, if I host my own server, could I play on it by myself for a while and then open it up to other players at a later date?

Yes you do not have to make it public and allow other players to join. When you do that is up to you. And you can password protect your server

If i host the server myself I would not be able to run it continually, how would time progression work in this situation? (E.g. crops, seasons, pregnancies, animals aging)

Some of those variables will be able to be changed at release, with some maybe added later. Time is a bit funky in Wurm. Some things is managed by server uptime, such as field and tree growth. Other things are governed by real time. You can set field growth time though. As demand for certain settings become clear after release we will add them.

How resource heavy will runing a server be?

The most limiting factor will likely be the number of creatures on the server, so you can simply set that to a value your server hardware can handle, slightly less to be able to support higher player numbers.

SECURITY

Are you worried that this will be used to find potential exploits and bugs which will create issues in the real world of wurm?

Are you worried that these servers will be used as a testing ground for new, better hacks (map hacks, macros and the like)?

There's always that risk but we have dealt with exploits as they arise since the beginning. Client modification is still not allowed. This process has been ongoing since first release date. So I'm not very worried.

How will you enforce no client modifications when they no longer connect to a central server?

Sure, there is no point to modifying the client for single player, but unless you are developing a seperate client, there will be ways for people to test modified clients for use on Wurm Online?

We will not enforce it for the single player version. If you bring those changes to live: BANG goes your account. We do not release our cheat detection system on Steam.

Considering the tremendous ammount of hackers and coders on steam... What do you think will happen to the current servers and playerbase when the server code is available to the public?

Wurm has always been coded with the preparation of being attacked by hackers from the beginning, we take it seriously and are confident in our code base. If people want to preserve the online version they should probably help us by sending us any hacks and exploits they find. If they don't and use it themselves instead someone else may report them or the scale becomes so obvious that we fix it ourselves. Anyone using hacks or exploits risk losing their accounts and what they gained from using said exploits. So the net gain should be negative in the end.

Is modifiying the server source also not allowed, even to name a cheat detection system?

You don't get access to the "Wurm Online" server code which contains said cheat detection system. Like I said we removed it from the "Wurm Unlimited" server code.. We don't try to control how you mod the stuff we release on Steam.

FEATURES

Will the local servers be scaled down, or will any features of current live servers be held back?

The local servers will have pretty much all live server functionality but you can tweak variables using a GUI. We want to keep the code as similar as possible.

How will premium, in-game currency etc. work for private servers? Will server owners be able to set, for example, a free premium policy (everyone on the server gets premium automatically without paying)? What about deed upkeep, where will that go? Presumably private server GMs will be able to spawn silver coins, so there is a manual option there.

Right now all players are premium automatically on the servers. The economy works as usual and you have the possibility to pump the economy with silvers by using the server GUI. That money can then be retrieved the usual ways by selling to traders or foraging etc. And yes you can set a player to have powers to create money as well.

What about unique/mysterious things about Wurm that we have to discover ourselves? Take for examples: Sorcery, Meditation, Titles and such.

I've played as a Game Master in another game and when returning as a normal player I still got drawn into the world. That said, I didn't have the code base and was limited in certain aspects. In many games there are editors but you still play the game normal mode if it's good. There are still some unexplored things you'll have a really hard time figuring out even by having the server code, decompiling it and going through it as a programmer.

We will keep developing the online version high end stuff and will not be releasing certain mysteries in the Steam version until people have discovered and made them public. Conversely, there may be seperate Steam only mysteries that will appear before being released on live.

How will the initial map be created? Will we be able to design it from scratch or set preferences for it?

At release we will provide two maps since we don't have our own terrain generator for Wurm and it requires extra tools. What we do is use a commercial terrain generator and modify the generated files by tweaking things in java source code. We have no gui for tweaking those parameters and don't have the resources to support such a method or questions about it at release. You may however play around with it yourself and use any maps you manage to generate by replacing them in the game directory.

What sort of sized maps are we talking about for standalone?

2048x2048 for both Creative and Adventure mode atm

Do players still need to pay silver for deeding on these standalone servers? If so, where do players get it from? I assume silver bought in the shop cannot be used on those servers?

You can set deeds to be free. Or set up traders and people sell to them.

Will there ever be DLC for WU? (3D mines, higher resolution assets)

We have not looked at DLC potential since it's not our main focus, most updates will be free like in wurm online. Everyone should play the same game. If there were improvements like higher resolution thwy would come to wurm online first.

People have already started requesting features for WU, will there be staff hired just to work on WU?

The code base is pretty much the same and WO will remain the main development focus, with updates coming to WO and WU. The money from WU goes to code club so if we hire more staff it will benefit WO.

STEAM

Will there be steam specific inclusions such as trading cards, achievements, or steam credit facilities?

There are Steam Trading cards. We haven't coded achievements yet, and don't know if we'll be able to have them for release. No plans for involvement in Steam credits.

I decide to run my own server, say on a professionally hosted machine (which I organise separately with a hosting company). Ignoring the hosting and server bandwidth costs, will I need to buy the game once or pay a monthly fee? Will the stand-alone version only be available via Steam, or will I be able to buy (for example) a tarball or rpm from the WO/WU website? I guess everyone who wants to play on my private server will also need to buy the client (e.g. from Steam)?

You just run your Steam client on the hosted machine and download and install the dedicated Wurm Unlimited server. You only need to buy it once.

Will there be any kind of steam network integration? eg. finding servers, joining friends, connecting to the official server etc.

We will be using many features that steam provide, such as server browsing and such, with more functionality coming after release.

Will modding and/or steam workshop be supported?

We haven't built any support around modding but we don't block it either the client or the server. No Steam workshop - we haven't had time to get into that area yet but it might come of course. This is a first release and we're no power house manwise. The standard installation will be ovewritten by updates though so any changes will have to be made around it.

Is it possible to offer a bundle deal? For the point of getting more keys so you can introduce Wurm online thru Wurm Ultimate. It would also give a point for the new players so they can start playing together with their friends.

We were hoping to be able to offer bundles deals for 2 as well as 4 players but that was also up to Valve who controls Steam and they didn't offer us bundles for now.

Will Wurm Unlimited require multiple purchases to play more than one character at a time?

Steam only allows one client of any game (not only Wurm Unlimited) running at one time so you can only run one character per Steam installation and account.

MISCELLANEOUS

Will you allow people to monetize their private servers?

We will not block you from monetizing. We will not explicitly allow you. So yes.

For all of us who have spent years making our deed just right, We will now have another version of wurm to build these things overnight so where is the incentive to keep playing?

I don't know what your incentive is for playing but a private server is still something else than an online hosted version. We aim to keep your creations for decades while your private server may go away overnight as well. Also, the public servers may or may not have more players and permanent community. We will see!

Also as things stand anymore than 50 players in local and you can not move for the lag so how the hell is these new servers going to cope with the influx of players?

If the game lags with 50 players in local it usually depends on your client since I have seen more. Maybe you need to turn down settings or need better hardware. The servers will cope with a lot more players. Also, people will trickle in. They don't come to our live servers using the Steam clients.

So much ###### dude, fix the fkin memory leaks topkek

We're working on a new rendering system for the client, hopefully that will improve things for you.

How much will it cost?

The price will be available on the Steam store page when we've finally decided it together with Plug In Digital. We seem to be fairly in agreement on where it should land.

Will there be a monthly fee for this aswell?

No this is a one time purchase on Steam.

Will there be any discount for playing WO already?

We have no way of linking Wurm Online player accounts to Steam accounts unfortunately so we wouldn't know who to give a discount. We have no way of generating private discount codes on Steam and distributing to an email list either. There will be a general release date discount however. We are looking into providing discounted packages but those things are managed by Steam.

Is it possible that popular mods might be included in the online version down the track?

If people improve stuff in the Steam release and it makes sense to adopt we'll be happy to if both parties are and we have resources.

Will there be a possibility to buy Wurm Unlimited without using Steam?

Unfortunately not at this time.

Will private server rely on Wurm Online in any way? That is, would an WO outage effect me? If WO shuts down, would my WU server still work?

Share this post

Link to post

Share on other sites

One question I didnt see completely answered. Will the Privately hosted server require Steam to be running at all times with it or will it be a standalone software piece once you buy the game? To sum up the question, will I need to have a seperate Steam account to set up a virtual server on its own computer in my house but then need to have another steam account with the game to be able to connect to that server from another computer?

Share this post

Link to post

Share on other sites

I found this alittle bit of a slap in the face to pretty much everyone who plays this game that Rolf is in denial that his game is terribly optimized for large groups of players in one area or traveling long distances. Hopefully the new rendering system he mentions will fix many of the problems that everyone I know regardless of amazing their hardware is or what settings have.

As for the rest of the post I think it fairly comprehensively answered just about every question I have right now so kudos and thanks for that Rolf. I'm still not 100% sold on the idea in terms of whether it'll bring more success to WO as is intended but I guess time will tell

Share this post

Link to post

Share on other sites

And so I ask again: This is the simple questions, followed by my original question that merited a link to this page for answer and I still don't have a straight answer.

Will Wurm come as a stand-alone game without the need to log online once installed?

Do I HAVE to use Steam to play it?

Original Question:

Can someone explain this like you're talking to a two-year old please? Yes, some people are totally stupid on this planet and I'm one of 'em.

1- Will I be able to play Wurm off-line without setting it up as a server to connect other players on it? Is this Wurm Unlimited a Single-player game or is it still a glorified online game?

2- Do I absolutely need Steam to play it? Am I gonna HAVE to create a Steam account and download their software in order to purchase and play the game? Can the game be downloaded and played off-line, single-player like as an .exe?

I'm not buying anything if Wurm Unlimited still needs to be connected online to be playable.

Share this post

Link to post

Share on other sites

You can play it by yourself on your own pc but yes as of now you have to use steam but steam does have an offline mode so you can play it offline but you will still need a steam account to buy it and to play.

they might add in more things later where you do not have to have steam but as of now you do.

Share this post

Link to post

Share on other sites

You can play it by yourself on your own pc but yes as of now you have to use steam but steam does have an offline mode so you can play it offline but you will still need a steam account to buy it and to play.

they might add in more things later where you do not have to have steam but as of now you do.

Share this post

Link to post

Share on other sites

And so I ask again: This is the simple questions, followed by my original question that merited a link to this page for answer and I still don't have a straight answer.

Will Wurm come as a stand-alone game without the need to log online once installed?

Do I HAVE to use Steam to play it?

Original Question:

Can someone explain this like you're talking to a two-year old please? Yes, some people are totally stupid on this planet and I'm one of 'em.

1- Will I be able to play Wurm off-line without setting it up as a server to connect other players on it? Is this Wurm Unlimited a Single-player game or is it still a glorified online game?

2- Do I absolutely need Steam to play it? Am I gonna HAVE to create a Steam account and download their software in order to purchase and play the game? Can the game be downloaded and played off-line, single-player like as an .exe?

I'm not buying anything if Wurm Unlimited still needs to be connected online to be playable.

Thank you for your answer!

Idiot out.

1. I do recall reading Warlander saying that Wurm Unlimited can be played single-player without going through any steps to set up a server. I might be remembering that wrong but I'm pretty sure that's what I saw.

2. Rolf said we definitely need Steam, but Steam does have an off-line mode. Once you install Wurm Unlimited (and run it once, just to be sure) you can switch Steam to "off-line" mode and it stays that way until you toggle it back, even if you restart it. Just make sure it's set to "Remember Password" when you log in. If you want to grab any WU updates you will have to go back into online mode though.

Hope that helps Fredbel. And if anyone knows of the post I'm referencing and wants to quote it here, that would be great.

Share this post

Link to post

Share on other sites

1. I do recall reading Warlander saying that Wurm Unlimited can be played single-player without going through any steps to set up a server. I might be remembering that wrong but I'm pretty sure that's what I saw.

2. Rolf said we definitely need Steam, but Steam does have an off-line mode. Once you install Wurm Unlimited (and run it once, just to be sure) you can switch Steam to "off-line" mode and it stays that way until you toggle it back, even if you restart it. Just make sure it's set to "Remember Password" when you log in. If you want to grab any WU updates you will have to go back into online mode though.

Hope that helps Fredbel. And if anyone knows of the post I'm referencing and wants to quote it here, that would be great.